Selective running tool with separation feature

ABSTRACT

A running tool that delivers an object selectively to one of a plurality of landing nipples and then releases from the object is disclosed. The tool is actuated by raising it after it has passed the desired landing nipple to release a locating dog. The locating dog places locking dogs on the object even with a groove on the landing nipple. Movement of the tool downhole secures the locking relationship and releases the running tool from the object. A sheer pin allows testing at the surface that the object is locked in place, prior to removal of the running tool. The object comprises a fishing neck to allow it to be subsequently retrieved.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The field of this invention related to running tools that candeliver an object to a selected location downhole and more particularlyto running tools that can be used with standardized landing nipples andrelease from the object after securing it in the selected nipple.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Landing nipples have special profiles that allow tools or plugsto be located at desired locations in a well. The landing nipples arepart of a tubing string and their placement is determined when thetubing is run into the borehole. In the past, seal bore size hasdecreased as the well depth increased. Accordingly, the landing nippleshad to have different sizes, depending on their location. More recently,with the increased use of expansion technology, wells are beingcompleted as a monobore, where the tubing size is the same for the depthof the well. In monobore applications the landing nipples at variousdepths had to be unique as did the lock assembly that became supportedat a selected landing nipple. An example of such a design is U.S. Pat.No. 4,043,392. The problem with such a system is that an array oflanding nipples had to be available to be run in at specific depths andthe matching configuration for the lock had to be used to get the lockto land at the proper depth. In systems with decreasing tubing size upongreater depth, selectivity was obtained by keeping on hand an assortmentof lock sizes and running in the lock that would catch at the desireddepth.

[0003] In the past a tool from Baker Hughes known as the Sur-Set® modelAM-40 was available to attach to a lock for delivery to a predetermineddepth. Thus in a monobore application, this system could be positionedadjacent a desired landing nipple among many that were identical to eachother and then locked in place. The problem with this assembly was thatthe selective feature was integrated with the lock and had to stay inthe hole as long as the lock remained in place. Leaving the selectivefeature in the hole was a large item of expense for the well operatorsthat essentially had to purchase the selective feature as an item leftin the hole.

[0004] Accordingly, the present invention is designed to allowseparation of the selective feature after setting the lock, leaving onlythe essential components of the lock in the hole and removing therunning tool and the selective feature. Since the running tool and theselective feature are removed from the hole, the cost to the well owneris decreased in that purchase of the running tool is avoided and insteadthe operator pays for a service using the running tool, which is aconsiderably lower charge. This advantage of the present invention, andothers, will become more readily apparent to those skilled in the artfrom a review of the description of the preferred embodiment and theclaims, which appear below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] A running tool that delivers an object selectively to one of aplurality of landing nipples and then releases from the object isdisclosed. The tool is actuated by raising it after it has passed thedesired landing nipple to release a locating dog. The locating dogplaces locking dogs on the object even with a groove on the landingnipple. Movement of the tool downhole secures the locking relationshipand releases the running tool from the object. A shear pin allowstesting at the surface that the object is locked in place, prior toremoval of the running tool. The object comprises a fishing neck toallow it to be subsequently retrieved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006]FIGS. 1a-1 d are a section view of the running tool and the lockat the start of the sequence to actuate the lock at a pre-selectedlanding nipple;

[0007]FIGS. 2a-2 d are the view of FIGS. 1a-1 d shown with the lockengaged and the running tool released from the lock except for a shearpin connection to allow testing of the locked connection from thesurface;

[0008]FIG. 3 is a detailed view of the select dog used to allow escapeof the jarring dog for locating the running tool in the selected nippleprofile for actuating the locking sequence; and

[0009]FIG. 4 is a detailed view of the jarring dogs engaged in thelanding nipple groove for actuation of the locking and release sequence.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0010] Referring to FIGS. 1a-1 d, a mandrel 32 is made of multiplecomponents. From the uphole end is a fishing neck 1 that is connected tointer-linkage sleeve 23 at thread 34. Sleeve 23 has a longitudinalgroove 36 through which inter-linkage dog 22 extends. Lower dog prong 29is connected to inter-linkage sleeve 23 at thread 38. For run in, lowerdog prong 29 supports lower dog 30 in a locking relation to groove 40,see FIG. 1d. A groove 42 on lower dog prong 29 is initially offset fromlower dog 30. Fishing neck dog retainer 25 is connected to sleeve 23 atthread 44. Fishing neck dog 27 extends through an opening 119 in fishingneck dog retainer 25. Dog 27 extends into groove 48 at the upper end oflock assembly 50. Inter linkage probe 28 extends between inter-linkagesleeve 23 and lower dog prong 29. It has a groove 52 that is initiallyoffset from dog 27. At its lower end, inter-linkage probe 28 has anopening 54 in which resides dog 30. Dog 30 supports lock assembly 50 ina locked relation to probe 28 for run in. The lock assembly 50 has anouter sleeve 56 with an opening 58 in which anchoring dog 60 resides ina recessed relationship for run in. The lock assembly has an innersleeve 62 that has groove 48 near its upper end. A recessed surface 64on inner sleeve 62 is juxtaposed against dog 60 for run in to allow dog60 to locate within opening 58. Inner sleeve 62 has a ramp 64 that willultimately push dog 60 into anchoring groove 66 in nipple profile 68. Asnap ring 70 is mounted to sleeve 62 and will ultimately snap intogroove 72 on outer sleeve 56. A seal assembly 74 is mounted to a housing76 that is secured to outer sleeve 56 at thread 78. Seal assembly 74will ultimately seal inside the nipple profile 68. A lower sub 80 isconnected to housing 76 at thread 82 to seal off the passage inside thenipple profile 68 when the lock assembly is secured. Finally a shear pin84 extends through outer sleeve 56 and into probe 28 to allow surfacepersonnel to confirm that the lock assembly 50 is secured to groove 66.Breaking this shear pin 84 will allow the lock assembly 50 to remain inplace while everything else is removed from the wellbore.

[0011] Referring again to FIG. 1a, a retaining sleeve sub 5 is securedwith shear screw 6 to fishing neck 1. A retaining ring cap 2 holds aretrieving ring 4. Ultimately, ring 4 will snap into groove 86 onfishing neck 1. Sub 5 is connected to locator sub 16 at thread 88.Jarring dog retainer 19 is connected to locator sub 16 at thread 90.Retainer 19 defines a recess 92 in which is disposed jarring dog 17 andleaf spring 18 to bias it out. Initially dog 17 is misaligned withopening 94 in lower cover sleeve 12. Cover sleeve 12 is biased uphole bypower spring 14 acting on stop ring 13 and supported off of locator sub16. Upper cover sleeve 8 is attached to cover sleeve 12 at thread 96.Upper cover sleeve 8 has a longitudinal opening 98 through which selectdog 11 extends. Spring 9 biases sleeve 8 against snap ring 7 in anuphole direction and pushes down on retainer ring 10 and select dog 11in a downhole direction. Retaining sleeve sub 5 has upper groove 100 andlower groove 102. Groove 102 has a reverse shoulder 104 that eventuallytraps mating shoulder 106, as shown in FIG. 2a. When running in the holeselect dog 11 is pushed against the bias of spring 9 into groove 100 toallow the tool to advance unhindered. Once the select dog 11 entersgroove 102, the bias of spring 14 and the interaction of shoulders 104and 106 retains the select dog 11 in groove 102. Finally, cross-link dogretainer 20 is secured to jarring dog retainer 19 at thread 108. Dogretainer 20 has a recess 110 in which sits inter-linkage dog 22. Dog 22supports inter-linkage probe 28 from dog retainer 20. While dog retainer20 abuts fishing neck dog retainer 25, they are not connected and theycome apart from each other, as shown in FIG. 2b.

[0012] The significant components of the apparatus now having beendescribed, the operation will be reviewed in more detail. FIGS. 1a-1 dillustrate the run in position. Dogs 18 are offset from window 94 andare held inwardly retracted. Shear screw 6 holds retaining sleeve sub 5to fishing neck 1. Dog 60 in lock assembly 50 is in a retractedposition. The inner sleeve 62 is supported from dog 27. The outer sleeve56 is supported from dog 30 and shear pin 84. When the tool is loweredthrough a given nipple profile 68 the select dog 11 encountersobstructions and is pushed back against the bias of spring 9 into groove100 where it is sufficiently retracted to allow the assembly to continueto travel lower. Once a selected nipple profile 68 is reached andpassed, the assembly is raised to the position shown in FIGS. 1a-1 d.Select dog 11 hangs on surface 112 in nipple profile 68. When the toolis moved up more, the select dog 11 is forced into groove 102 and istrapped there. Select dog 11 pushed on the bottom of opening 98 to forcedown lower cover sleeve 12. This allows spring 18 to push out jarringdog 17 into the now aligned opening 94. Indexing dog 17 is raised aboveindexing grooves 114 and 116 and then the entire assembly is lowereduntil dog 17 can be pushed into grooves 114 and 116 as shown in FIGS. 2band 4. With dog 17 in grooves 114 and 116, dog 60 is aligned with groove66. Pushing down on fishing neck 1 breaks shear screw 6. The connectedpieces from cross-link dog retainer 20 at the lower end and up toretaining ring cap 2 remain stationary as the fishing neck 1 advances.Dog 22 and inter-linkage probe 28 do not move as they are supported byretainer 20 which now can't move. Since dog 22 is in opening 36 lowerdog prong 29 and inter-linkage sleeve 23 can move down with respect todog 22 that is held stationary. Dog 22 winds up at the uphole end ofopening 36 as a result of such movement of prong 29 and sleeve 23. Dog27 engages inner sleeve 62 in groove 48 and pushed it down so that ramp64 pushes out dog 60 into groove 66 and locks it in there with surface118. Snap ring 70 jumps into groove 72 to hold the locked position ofdog 60. As this happens, dog 27 falls into groove 52 to release the lockassembly 50 from fishing neck dog retainer 25. At the same time,downward movement of lower dog prong 29 puts groove 42 opposite dog 30to release housing 56 from inter-linkage probe 28 leaving just the shearpin 84 holding them together. Also at the same time retrieving ring 4registers in groove 86. At this time, the dog 60 is locked in groove 66of the landing nipple 68 with snap ring 70 holding the locked positionby expansion into groove 72. There is no longer any connection by thelock assembly 50 to any other part of the tool except for shear pin 84.Surface personnel can now apply a pulling force to break shear pin 84 astheir signal that the lock assembly is properly secured to groove 66.When a subsequent upward force is applied, dog 17 simply is cammed outof grooves 114 and 116 and the fishing neck 1 and all parts supported byit can come out of the hole leaving only the lock assembly 50. At alater time groove 48 can be engaged by a fishing tool and inner sleeve62 can be picked up, taking snap ring 70 out of groove 72 and movingsurface 118 out from behind anchoring dog 60 so that the lock assembly50 and whatever tool is attached to it can be removed from the well.

[0013] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that although the lockassembly is illustrated to be a plug in the preferred embodiment, othertypes of tools may be selectively positioned in one of a plurality oflanding nipples. Where items are referred to in the singular, multiplequantities are also contemplated, such as, for instance, the variousdogs in the apparatus. While a specific preferred structure to release arunning tool that has capability to be actuated at a selected locationfrom any tool that it carries has been disclosed, those skilled in theart will appreciate that the present invention contemplates any type ofsystem of release of the downhole tool from the running tool when therunning tool is configured for selective actuation at a predeterminedlocation. While the present invention is particularly useful in amonobore application, other applications can also be within the scope ofthe invention. The present invention allows the running tool to beremoved after it is used to place the downhole tool selectively at oneof a plurality of anchoring points. In a monobore application identicallanding nipples 68 can be used with one selective running tool that cancome out of the hole after the downhole tool is anchored. The shear pin84 allows a surface signal to be sensed that the anchoring dog 60 issecured to its anchoring groove 66.

[0014] The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention areillustrative and explanatory thereof, and various changes in the size,shape and materials, as well as in the details of the illustratedconstruction, may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

1. A tool assembly for delivering a downhole tool into a wellbore,comprising: a body; an indexing mechanism on said body selectivelyactuated to support said body in one of a plurality of wellborelocations; an actuating assembly on said body selectively movable whensaid indexing mechanism supports said body in the wellbore for actuatingan anchor on the downhole tool to support the downhole tool in thewellbore;
 2. The assembly of claim 1, further comprising: a releasedevice on said body for disconnecting said body from the downhole toolwhen the downhole tool is supported by its anchor; a plurality ofdownhole downhole landing nipples mounted in the wellbore and serving assaid plurality of locations for support of said body, said landingnipples comprising at least one locating groove and at least one lockinggroove.
 3. The assembly of claim 2, wherein: said indexing mechanismcomprises at least one indexing dog held in a retracted position to saidbody; and a release assembly capable of passing through said landingnipples in a first direction while maintaining said indexing dogretained to said body, said release assembly allowing said indexing dogto extend when said body is moved into one of said landing nipples in asecond direction opposite said first direction.
 4. The assembly of claim3, further comprising: a downhole tool releasably connected to said bodyand further comprising an anchoring dog, said anchoring dog aligned withsaid locking groove when said body is supported by said indexing dog insaid locating groove.
 5. The assembly of claim 4, further comprising: aninner and outer sleeve on said downhole tool, said actuating assemblyselectively retained to said inner and outer sleeves to cause relativemovement between them, said relative movement forcing said anchoring doginto a locked relation with said locking groove.
 6. The assembly ofclaim 5, further comprising: said relative movement releases connectionof said inner and outer sleeves to said body.
 7. The assembly of claim6, further comprising: at least one shear pin; said shear pinmaintaining contact with at least one of said inner and outer sleevesafter said relative movement releases connection of said inner and outersleeves to said body.
 8. The assembly of claim 5, further comprising:said body further comprises a first dog to engage said outer sleeve anda second dog to engage said inner sleeve, whereupon movement of at leastone of said first and second dogs with respect to the other said dogsrelease from their respective sleeves
 9. The assembly of claim 8,further comprising: said sleeves lock to each other subsequent torelative movement between them that results in locking said anchoringdog in said locking groove.
 10. The assembly of claim 8, wherein: saidrelease of said first and second dogs occurs when grooves on a part ofsaid body come into alignment with said first and second dogs.
 11. Amethod of placing a downhole tool in a well, comprising: providing aplurality of anchoring points for the downhole tool in the well;connecting the downhole tool to a running tool and running the assemblyinto the well; providing a selectivity feature to the running tool sothat the running tool can obtain support selectively near said pluralityof the anchoring points; supporting the running tool from near one ofthe anchoring points; anchoring the downhole tool to an anchoring point;and releasing the running tool from the downhole tool.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, comprising: providing an indexing point adjacent eachanchoring point; retaining an indexing dog to the running tool when therunning tool is moved in a first direction and releasing said indexingdog for support of the running tool at an indexing point when therunning tool is moved in a second direction opposite said firstdirection.
 13. The method of claim 12, comprising: shifting a sleeve toalign an opening opposite said indexing dog to allow it to be biased outfrom the body of the running tool; and locking said sleeve to therunning tool body when its opening is aligned with said indexing dog.14. The method of claim 12, comprising: positioning an anchoring dog onthe downhole tool adjacent an anchoring point when said indexing dogsuspends the running tool from an indexing point; and locating saidanchoring dog into said anchoring point with movement of a portion ofsaid running tool relative to another portion suspended from saidindexing point.
 15. The method of claim 14, comprising: providing aninner and outer sleeve on the downhole tool; creating relative movementbetween said sleeves from said movement of a portion of the runningtool; and using a ramp on one of said sleeves for said locating saidanchoring dog through an opening in the other of said sleeves.
 16. Themethod of claim 15, comprising: connecting a first dog on said runningtool to said inner sleeve and a second dog on said running tool to saidouter sleeve; releasing said first and second dogs as a result of saidrelative movement.
 17. The method of claim 16, comprising: providing abreakable connection to one of said inner and outer sleeves; applying aforce to said running tool with said anchoring dog located into saidanchoring point and said first and second dogs released; usingresistance to said force to the running tool as a signal said anchoringdog is in place in said anchoring point; and breaking said breakableconnection.
 18. The method of claim 16, comprising: moving one of saidfirst and second dogs, when said dogs are still connected to saidsleeves, with respect to the other of said first and second dogs;presenting grooves opposite said first and second dogs after saidanchoring dog is located into said anchoring point; and locking saidinner and outer sleeves to each other after said anchoring dog islocated into said anchoring point.
 19. The method of claim 15,comprising: providing said opening in said outer sleeve and said ramp onsaid inner sleeve; holding said outer sleeve while moving said innersleeve; locking said sleeves to each other after said ramp has pushedsaid anchoring dog into the anchoring point through said window.
 20. Themethod of claim 19, comprising: connecting a first dog on said runningtool to said inner sleeve and a second dog on said running tool to saidouter sleeve; releasing said first and second dogs as a result of saidrelative movement.
 21. The method of claim 11, comprising: using one ofcoiled tubing and a workstring to run the assembly into the well; andsetting hydraulically at least one of the running tool and the downholetool.